It all started when I learned to read, or rather, before I learned to read.

When I was two years old, my grandma decided it was time to 1 me to poetry. I didn't understand the words, but my parents said my first complete sentence was the recitation of a poem because my grandma had read it to me so many times that I could 2 it.

Throughout my childhood, I always had a bunch of 3  about who I would become when I was older, like an inventor, a doctor, or a dancer. But these ideas 4  in middle school. I spent a few years wandering 5  through life, having no clue what I was 6  about.

7 , in my first year of high school, I met Miss King, who 8 my life. She was enthusiastic and encouraging. I loved her and I wanted to make her proud of me. So I worked hard and put my 9 into every essay she assigned. I even practiced 10 in my spare time and brought what I wrote to her for feedback. One day, she said to me encouragingly, "I recommended you to the school newspaper, and you can write for it."

Her words 11 something in me. Suddenly, I wasn't 12 anymore. I had a destination. I'd become a 13 . Doing well at the school newspaper was the first step to get there.

Thanks to the first poem my grandma read to me and Miss King's 14 , now I'm writing for newspapers all round the world. It's still the bottom of the ladder, and I've got miles left to 15 , but at least I've made somewhere.